Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), on Wednesday, celebrated the dismissal of a lawsuit Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) brought against the online retailer for the use of the term ‘App Store’ for Android device software.
Reuters reported that U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton, in Oakland, California, granted the online retailer’s request to toss the claim against the company on the basis of finding ““no support for the proposition that Amazon has expressly or impliedly communicated that its Appstore for Android possesses the characteristics and qualities that the public has come to expect from the Apple APP Store and/or Apple products.”
The lawsuit brought against Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) by Apple came following the company’s accusation that Amazon was using App Store to solicit developers for Android software download service. In their defense, Amazon explained that using the term App store had nothing to do with Apple’s copyright infringement of its patent terms. According to the online retailer, this terms has become so generic that it can be used by anyone to represent a app hub without constituting false advertising.
On Wednesday, Hamilton wrote in her ruling that the use of “App Store” by Amazon did not constitute what Apple’s claimed as false advertising.
“Apple has failed to establish that Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) made any false statement (express or implied) of fact that actually deceived or had the tendency to deceive a substantial segment of its audience,” Hamilton wrote.
No official word has however been received from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) over this ruling.
It is important to highlight that in 2008, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) applied to the U.S. Patent and Trademark office to register the term APP STORE, according to the order. This notion was opposed by Microsoft Corp. claiming that the term is generic.
With its Kindle tablet available in the market on quite a reasonable purchase price, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) put up a potential competition against the iPhone manufacturer in the recent years. This Christmas holiday sales revealed that Kindle was on second number among the most wanted gadgets among the holiday shoppers.
